#Best crime documentaries on netflix serial#
#Best crime documentaries on netflix trial#

Still, in the final moments of the show we witness the now-adult sonвЂ™s homecoming, and while some questions might linger for viewers, the family arc gets dramatically effective closure. While there are glimpses of an unjust juvenile system - he was only able to get release thanks to a court ruling overturning life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders - they ultimately feel tacked on. Zachary ultimately agreed to a deal in 2018, pleading guilty in exchange for a release for time served. (The neighbor claimed he hadnвЂ™t seen any strange cars around their street the day of the murder.)

#Best crime documentaries on netflix trial#

In one scene, a neighbor waves at them and the couple bitterly notes how his testimony at the trial aided their sonвЂ™s prosecution. Even 20 years after the murder, the parents never left the home where it took place, and Sue Witman kept her sonвЂ™s room intact. It also captures the way the crime impacted the family and neighborhood.

There are many unanswered questions about ZacharyвЂ™s guilt, but the documentary is more of an intimate portrait of a couple facing a horrible tragedy. They argue that their defense attorney (who replaced Gutierrez) didnвЂ™t present a strong case - failing to specifically contest the prosecutionвЂ™s forensic experts with their own, for instance. The Witmans chronicles the entire story, mostly from the parentsвЂ™ perspective. The Witmans refused to plea-bargain, and Zachary was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. They believed the evidence - including a small knife buried in the backyard - pointed to him.

His 15-year-old brother, Zachary, was the only other person in the house at the time, and police quickly zeroed in on him as the lone suspect. In 1998, their 13-year-old son, Greg, was dropped off by the school bus at their suburban Philadelphia home, only to be violently stabbed to death in the laundry room. Sue and Ron Witman were interviewed about being duped by Adnan SyedвЂ™s lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez, whom theyвЂ™d hired to represent their son, who was accused of murdering his brother.ДЄt the time, there was already a documentary short circulating online about the grief-stricken parents, and it was hard not to be haunted by their story.

#Best crime documentaries on netflix serial#

Like many true crime followers, I first heard about the Witman murder case in the Serial podcast.